About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2017)
Friday, November 23, 2017 Lake Oconee News Page A3 MORGAN COUNTY Morgan school nutrition program wins Golden Radish Contributed School Nutrition Program Director, Kim Johnson, was recognized at last week's Board of Education meeting for winning the Georgia Department of Education's Golden Radish Award at the bronze level for her work with the local farming community bringing local produce to school cafeterias in the system. Angel Mills news@lakeoconeenews.us Morgan County Schools were among systems pre sented the Golden Radish Award recently. The Golden Radish publicly recognizes school districts for all aspects of farm to school, including procuring local food, hosting taste tests and gardening with students. This year, the Golden Radish partners awarded 26 new school dis tricts and welcomed a new partner: UGA Extension. “UGA Extension is so excited to promote healthy eatinghabits and incorporate Georgia’s great agricultural food products into our school lunchrooms,” said Associate Dean for Extension Laura Perry Johnson. “This is a nat ural partnership thatbenelits us as well as the school kids who get to enjoy these tasty and nutritious products.” Agriculture and Natural Resources and Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agents, along with Master Gardener Extension volunteers, work with teach ers, parents, administrators and students across the state to build and maintain school gardens and farm-to-school programs. This year, exten sion faculty helped review applications for Georgia Organics’ 4-year-old Golden Radish Awards program and co-sponsored the ceremony. Districts of all sizes are using farm-to-school pro grams to teach academic standards in school gardens, support the local economy through local food purchases for school meals and fight childhood obesity and other preventable food-related diseases. “Access to fresh, locally grown food is not just important for students’ phys ical health — it’s part of their academic development as well,” said State School Superintendent Richard Woods. “When children eat fresh, healthy meals, they have the fuel they need for a successful day of learning.” Agriculture Commissioner of Georgia Gary W. Black notes that while farm-to- school efforts support aca demic achievement, they also help build a strong agricultural economy. “Feed My School For a Week, Georgia Grown Test Kitchen and the Golden Radish Awards are all great ways for school nutrition to support Georgia producers, and we are excited as to what current and future award winners will accomplish as we work toward our 2020 Vision Plan for School Nutrition in Georgia.” Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. J. Patrick O’Neal also champi ons healthy food access for children and supports farm- to-school efforts. “The vita mins, minerals and health benefits from local fresh fruit and vegetables not only allow our children to be physically healthy, but research has shown that healthy eating is also key to brain develop ment,” said Commissioner O’Neal. “Here in Georgia, we are leading the nation in identifying ways to increase early brain development, and healthy nutrition is an enormous part of that.” Georgia Organics founded the state’sfirstfarm-to-school program in2007. Since then, communities across the state have embracedthebenefits of bringing students and fresh, local food closer together. “It’s astounding that over 40 percent of our school districts are actively involved in the Golden Radish Awards after only four years of establish ing the program,” stated Georgia Organics Executive Director Alice Rolls. “This is an exciting trajectory given farm to school’s impact on child nutrition, farmer prosperity, rural develop ment, local economies and public health.” During the 2016-17 school year, Golden Radish school districts collectively: • Served over 97 million meals that featured locally grown and raised foods. • Conducted 8,204 taste tests. • Taught 7,263 stan- dards-based lessons. • Tended885schoolgardens. • Engaged students in 3,794 hands-on cooking activities. • Involved parents and com munity members in 1,339 farm-to-school activities. The 2016-17 school year was a record-breaking year of farm-to-school growth in Georgia, and participants were thrilled to celebrate at the Golden Radish Awards. Georgia’s agriculture, edu cation and public health departments, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and Georgia Organics came together at the historic Georgia Railroad Freight Depot to celebrate Georgia school districts with outstanding farm-to- school programs. Seventy- five school districts, serving more than one million stu dents, are now participating in farm-to-school programs. These districts served more than 97 million school meals with local food items during the 2016-17 school year. GREENE COUNTY Human recognized at Leadership Conference Dave Brown dave@lakeoconeenews.us Greene County commis sioner Jonathan Human was recently recognized for academic achievement at the Lifelong Learning Academy. Human, the District 3 commissioner, was one of the many local officials from throughoutthe state awarded with certificates from acad emy, which is under the auspices of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia. ”1 want to go [to ACCG] to become abetter county com missioner in Greene County,” said Human, who is in the third year of his first term. “We learned a lot of things such as ethics and economic development, and also about county government laws.” Recipients were pre sented with their achieve ment certificate during the 2017 Legislative Leadership Conference at the Augusta Marriott Convention Center. Human was honored with successfully completing the core requirements in the Life Long Learning Academy. The Lifelong Learning Academy has been essential Jonathan Human in providing an opportunity or county officials to enhance their knowledge in various areas while providing practi cal lessons that are applicable to situations in their respec tive counties. ACCG president Allen Poole congratulated the recipients who earned their certificates. “Those who participate in the Lifelong Learning Academy are willfully enrich ing their counties by equip ping themselves with the latest information pertaining to counter,” said Poole. “Government moves at an incredibly fast pace, but they have taken the time to sit and become informed on complex topics and become up-to-date on ways to best serves their constituents. “I congratulate all who graduated and proud of the effort they have shown.” For over two decades, ACCG and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia have worked in concert to provide supplemental train ing and educational tools for county officials. Members workto complete core requirements and then choose from her abundant course options in a number of specialty tracks, such as intergovernmental relations, and disasters and emergency preparedness. “The development of our membership to better serve their counties is the core of the classes we offer,” said Ross King, ACCG’s executive director. “Year after year, county officials face the burden of high stakes leadership and making decisions on pressing issues both old and new. “Our programs guide offi cials through this pressure, giving them the tools they need to not only face, but overcome obstacles.” Atlanta Symphony Holiday Concert MADISON MORGAN CULTURAL CENTER C* 1 f, © 4= Friday, December 22, 2017 8:00PM MMCC Auditorium Tickets on Sale NOW! An Annual favorite for over 40 years! The Grammy Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performs a program of holiday and classical favorites, including a sing-a-long of familiar holiday tunes. 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